Some Enchanting Evening
by cess525
Summary: 3 different paths, 1 night. AU, Sam/Jack, mirror touching fun!
1. 1996

**Some Enchanting Evening**

**Pairings:** Sam/Jack

**Spoilers:** There but for the Grace of God, Point of View

**Setting:** Mainly beginning season 5

**Warnings/Victory Dance:** This is done, all done. After 3 years it's really truly done all typed up and everything. The story is with my awesome Beta Wendy. You have 15 chapters and an epilogue and as she gives them to me I will post them.  
Some might recognize the beginning of the story. The first 10 chapters are very similar to the 13 chapters posted in the original posting of Some Enchanting Evening but not all the way (a fresh reading is needed becuase of changes).

**Summary:** One night different endings. AU and mirror touching.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, darn it.

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_1996_

It was the dawn of a new era, a new President was elected and the parties that surround the inauguration of him. The inaugural balls were nightly for one week, one big party after another; a time to celebrate. Sam was not one to attend events, never a fan of getting dolled up to smooze. She had been asked to attend at least one event so here she was in a room full of candlelight and masks. A masquerade ball sounded like it would be a better time then the cowboy themed one the night before.

Sam had decided to wear a simple, long, midnight blue sheath dress; it sparkled with the candlelight around the ballroom. Her mask was simple, covered only the top half of her face, and the same shade as her dress with little specks of silver everywhere. She had managed to pull her hair into a style that made it look like she had more hair than she really had.

Sam was dying for a break, since she had arrived she had been dancing. Every time she thought she was going to have a break, another guy turned up and asked her to dance. Where was her date to save her from all this? Nowhere to be seen of course. She knew she had to find her own way out of this, she had to escape. Finally noticing a slight pause, she excused herself from the nice gentleman she was dancing with and dashed towards the bathroom.

Moving fast, she scanned the crowd for her date or the bathroom, whichever was closer but suddenly she found herself fall towards the ground, fast.

"Wow," a set of hands gently circled around her to steady her, "where's the fire?"

Sam looked up at her rescuer and found a man taller than her by a few inches, even with the heals she wore. He was wearing a simple tailored black tailcoat and tux pants like many of the other gentlemen in the room. His mask was like Sam's in that it was covering just the top of her face, all black outlined in gold glitter. His eyes, she noticed, were a chocolate brown and they simply took her breath away.

"Sorry," Sam started to reply but stopped as she truly looked at him. Nothing else seemed to come from her lips, she was suspended in thought, and as girly as it seemed, she had butterflies in her stomach.

After a moment, or maybe it was longer, the gentleman spoke up. "Would you care to dance?" Funny how she had been trying to escape this exact fate but for the first time that night she truly wanted to dance, she was enchanted by this gentleman. Still at a loss for words, a rare occurrence, she simply nodded her head and let him lead her to the dance floor as the band started up their next number.

_Some enchanted evening  
You may see a stranger,  
you may see a stranger  
Across a crowded room  
And somehow you know,  
You know even then  
That somewhere you'll see her  
Again and again._

Sam had always loved this song, her mother used to sing it to her father when he came home after a long deployment. "I have to admit something," the gentleman whispered in her ear as they danced a slow waltz. She turned her head ever so slightly to look into his eyes again. "I've been watching you all evening." She knew he had, and it made her stomach flutter again. Smiling at him, she replied with a simple, "I know," before resting her head on his shoulder again.

_Some enchanted evening  
Someone may be laughin',  
You may hear her laughin'  
Across a crowded room  
And night after night,  
As strange as it seems  
The sound of her laughter  
Will sing in your dreams._

All of a sudden another couple bumped into them and he had to steady her once again.

"Stupid heals," he whispered into her ear, saying exactly what she was thinking, making her let out a small giggle.

_Who can explain it?  
Who can tell you why?  
Fools give you reasons,  
Wise men never try._

Listening to the lyrics being sung, he knew that they were true.

_Some enchanted evening  
When you find your true love,  
When you feel her call you  
Across a crowded room,  
Then fly to her side,  
And make her your own  
For all through your life you  
May dream all alone._

"So, what may I call you?" She asked, whispering in his ear.

"Colonel." He replied, simply.

"Nice to meet you, Colonel," she replied, looking up into his eyes again.

"What about you? What do I call you?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Captain." She told him. He raised an eyebrow at that. He was not about to comment because though she might not look like a Captain in the dress she was wearing, it didn't mean that she wasn't one.

"Nice to meet you, Captain." He replied with a smirk.

_Once you have found her,  
Never let her go.  
Once you have found her,  
Never let her go!_

Looking into each others eyes, Sam realized that she wanted more. Her date be darned, she was going to do something crazy. The Colonel, seeing all he needed to know, started leading her from the dance floor.

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R&R please: love it, hate it, I can't get better without reviews...that and I live off of them:-D


	2. 2001

Chapter 2. Many thanks again to my awesome beta Wendy:-D. R&R...please:-P _

* * *

_

_**2001**_

Walking into the Briefing Room, Colonel Jack O'Neill saw General George Hammond standing at the window, overlooking the Stargate below.

"You rang, Sir?" O'Neill said, making his presence known.

"Colonel, it seems we have more visitors from the mirror." Hammond spoke with his eyes still trained on the room below.

"Sir, I thought we destroyed it after the Doctor Carter incident?"

"Apparently not, I am I'm having that situation looked into now."

"Who came through the mirror, sir?"

"Another version of Major Carter came through with a small child," Hammond answered. "The alternate Carter is in critical but stable condition at the moment. Dr. Warner says it looks like she was hit twice by a staff weapon. We are currently trying to contact Major Carter. But as you know she is off-world working on a Tok'ra device with Dr. Jackson, Dr. Fraiser and Jacob."

"What about the child, sir?" Hammond knew O'Neill had a soft spot for children and would want all available details on the child. It was one of the reasons he had asked O'Neill to come, even though the situation didn't call for it. Hammond also knew that having familiar faces around when the alternate Carter woke up would be comforting. Since Hammond didn't know if Teal'c was friend or foe in the reality she came from, that only left O'Neill since the others were off-world.

"Dr. Warner says the little girl is alright. She seems to be in shock right now but that is to be expected." Finally turning towards O'Neill, Hammond added, "she isn't responding to anyone right now."

"Sir?" O'Neill questioned as Hammond nodded his head and watched as O'Neill left the room before he turned to look back at the Stargate.

As O'Neill walked into the infirmary he noticed the alternate Carter hooked up to every machine imaginable. Pausing only to recollect himself, and to remind himself that it wasn't his Carter; she was safe off-world with her father, Daniel, and Janet. He resumed walking towards her.

Cuddled up on her left side was a little girl with blond hair- done up in what used to be neat piggy tails, wearing a little pink dress. She had found a niche where the wires weren't. At first glance O'Neill thought she was asleep, but on closer inspection he noticed that her little eyelids were open and her face was tear laden. She was just staring at all the machines beeping and buzzing next to Alternate Carter.

Putting his hand on the edge of the bed, the little girl took her eyes off the machines and looked at O'Neill for the first time. Recognition showed in her sad little eyes of whom O'Neill was and she moved to sit up. Throwing her arms up in the universal sign for 'pick me up.' Gracefully he moved around the bed and picked up the little girl; who could be no older than 4 and was as light as a feather.

The little girl immediately buried her head into his shoulder and started to cry. Doing the only thing he could, he grabbed a chair and sat down. He started rubbing smooth circles of comfort on the child's back.

Able to now take a closer look at the little girl, O'Neill noticed the signs of a bad day. Her little dress, pink with a little brown bear with a heart on his stomach, was splattered with blood and streaked with dirt. The sleeves showed signs of being a tissue for far to many tears from a girl her age. Looking at her face once more, he saw a set of brown eyes staring back at him.

"So munchkin, what's your name?" He whispered. The girl buried herself back into O'Neill's side but not too much that she couldn't peak out and see him.

"Mommy said in this reality you might not know my name," she looked even more troubled as she continued to speak. "She even said I might not even exist because at every point in a person's life there are different paths, and at…" she started to reply in a little voice barely higher than a whisper and on the verge of tears, until O'Neill cut her off.

"Ah munchkin, you have been listening to your mom too much. How about we try this again." He said with a smile, "what's your name?"

"My name is Elizabeth Mary O'Neill, but everyone calls me Liz, and I'm 4 and a half." O'Neill smiled at the 'and a half'. Charlie had been the same way, halves were very important at that age, even cake worthy. As for her last name, he knew the eyes looked familiar, just like Charlie's.

"Well, Liz, would you like to tell me what happened?"

Liz looked down for a long moment and just when O'Neill thought she was going to say no, her little voice started replaying the events in a dialogue beyond her years. She told O'Neill about how Apophis had attacked. Jack mused that it must have been in much the same way the other two alternate realities that they had encountered so far. There was a difference; Apophis had a new weapon in his arsenal, a bio weapon. Just like anything biological, some people were immune and some weren't. Liz stated that her family had all survived the bio attack along with a small group of other people on base. She told of how her father had died trying to hold off Aphphis' ground attack so that they could get to the mirror, and how her sister had died as she ran back to her father and had been shot in the process.

"O'Neill's never leave anyone behind," Liz said, as tears ran down her face, "Mommy said we had to, Daddy, she said we couldn't go back, we had to get to the mirror." She cried out. Between the cries, sniffles and hiccups she was able to add, "she said we were no good dead, we needed to help everyone by getting a sample of the weapon and all her work to a new reality so we can find a cure to help."

Taking a break and trying to hold in his emotions, O'Neill was shocked at all he had heard. The little girl had been through too much and through all the tears she had given a grisly account of the facts. O'Neill couldn't think of anything to say, so he continued to rub soothing circles on Liz's back as he hopped Hammond had gotten a hold of his Major Carter.

* * *

"What seems to be the problem, sir?" Carter asked as she walked into the Briefing room followed by Dr. Jackson, and Dr. Fraiser. They came as fast as they could when they were informed to report back to Earth immediately.

"Take a seat. We are still waiting for Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill before we start." At that moment Teal'c walked into the room, nodding his head in acknowledgement of those already there before taking his usual seat just as O'Neill walked into the room, with Liz attached to his left side.

"Sorry I'm late, sir." O'Neill said.

"What is Grace doing here, Sir?" Carter questioned before she could remind herself of her location. She didn't remember Grace owning a dress like the one she wore, and what had happened to her? She looked like she had been in a fight.

Hammond and O'Neill looked at Carter, along with Teal'c and Jackson. Frasier was the only one still looking at Liz, she studied the little girl as best she could from across the room.

"Colonel, why is she here? I thought I told you to leave her in the infirmary." Hammond spoke up.

"Sorry, Sir, but she wouldn't let go of me." O'Neill stated, as he tried to remove Liz, but she held on tighter. "Anyways, I got her to talk and she might be able to shed more on the current predicament than she told me." Then he turned his attention towards Carter and asked, "who's Grace?"

The little girl, that was still stuck to O'Neill like glue, started giggling and peaked her head out enough from O'Neill's jacket to look at him. "She mixes us up just like my mommy does," and then pointed to herself with a cocky smirk, "I'm Liz, not Grace." No one in the room failed to notice the sharp intake of breath that Carter took as Liz started to giggle into O'Neill's chest again.

Hammond decided he needed to take command of the situation. "At 0800 we had two visitors come through the mirror. I already have a team looking into why the mirror wasn't destroyed like it was supposed to have been. Liz here is one of the two people that came through." Hammond then turned his attention to Carter before he continued to speak, "the other person was Major Carter." Carter just nodded her head in acknowledgement of the facts before Hammond filled them in on the rest of the details he knew. Then O'Neill and Liz filled in with all the information they had. Dr. Fraiser and Carter both looked ready to bolt when they heard of the bio weapon and research the other Carter had done, but had stayed put until O'Neill and Liz had finished. Just as Hammond was getting ready to dismiss Fraiser and Carter to work on the weapon, O'Neill chimed in with the question he was sure Carter had hoped he would forget about,

"Carter, who's Grace?"


	3. The answer

Thanks again to my awesome Beta Wendy:-D

* * *

The look on Carter's face remained the same as before as she mulled over what to say before deciding the short answer was the best answer. Taking a deep breath she replied, "she's my daughter, sir." Everyone trained their eyes on Carter; again the look of shock was evident in everyone's faces except for Janet, even Teal'c had a raised eyebrow showing surprise.

"You have a daughter?" Daniel asked, sounding hurt as he finally broke the silence that had fallen over the room.

"Yes," she answered. But quickly realized that more information was wanted and needed so she continued. "A little over 4 years ago I had twins, Elizabeth and Grace. When they were a few months old, a family friend was watching them, and they got into a car accident. Liz didn't make it, along with my friend. Grace was the lone survivor of the accident." The grief was written all over her face as she looked at Liz.

"Sam, I am so sorry." Daniel said.

"Don't be, it was years ago and you weren't at fault," Sam stated as she turned her attention to Daniel.

"How come we didn't know you had a child?" Daniel asked in rapid fire. "What if something happened to you while you were off world? We would never have known to contact anyone in regards to your child."

"I didn't want people to think of me differently or be given different treatment just because I had a child. This was my dream job and I wasn't going to let people decide what was best for me since I am a single mother." Carter stated, forcefully before realizing how she sounded.

Calmly she continued, "I may be a single mother but I'm not dead, I can do what I love and raise my child. Anyway, it's not like no one on this base knew. Janet has known since she was placed here, and Sergeant Harriman knows."

"No one is doubting your ability to work and raise a child, Carter." O'Neill said, shocking the rest of the room before adding a very O'Neill-esque question, "and what do you mean Walter knew before we did?"

"Sir, Walter knows everything about everyone, whether you want him to know or not." Sam replied.

"Then how come Janet knew?" Daniel asked, his face showing the hurt at not being trusted.

"I'm her doctor, it was in her file; Doctor-Patient confidentiality applies." Fraiser replied, quickly.

"Mommy," Liz, still being held by O'Neill, spoke up for the first time. "Why doesn't daddy know about Grace?"

Carter took a deep breath; as much as she hated her secret being revealed, the next part of her secret was something she was deeply ashamed of. Taking another deep breath, she answered in a whisper, "because I don't know who Grace's father is."

The look of shock in the room was exactly why Sam didn't like people to know. They always started to judge, and being in the military some even assumed she slept her way up the ranks. The straight-as-an-arrow Sam Carter was not without faults, but people always assumed she was a goodie goodie. She was human like everyone else. "It was a one night, umm," she nervously started, but couldn't bring herself to finish her statement because as much as it was she never felt it was. Denial, most likely, but it never felt like a one nightstand.

"Mommy, this is Daddy." Liz pointed her little finger up to O'Neill's face. O'Neill already knew that he was Liz's father, well another version of him was, and he was already starting to put things together. Liz had mentioned that she and her sister looked alike. Since Carter had already mistaken Liz for Grace, it was safe to assume that there had been an event that was the same in both realities, he just couldn't place his finger on how, since the first time he remembered meeting Carter was in this briefing room when she challenged him to an arm wrestle.

"No, Liz, the first time I met Colonel O'Neill was in 1997." Carter spoke up, repeating exactly what O'Neill had just thought. "That was after you and your sister were born."

"No, mommy, this is 'The Colonel'." Liz stated. The table watched the ping-pong battle of information travel across the table, trying to figure out what the little girl was talking about.

"Yes, Liz, Jack is a _Colonel_." Daniel spoke up.

"No, No, NO," Liz stated with much force. "This is the Colonel from the ball." Putting emphasis on the word Colonel. There was a point there and she was hoping her mother, well alternate mother, would know what she was talking about.

O'Neill got it before Carter did, all the dots connected and he put it together. He always felt like he had seen Carter before that day in the briefing room years ago, but now he knew. It was the morning just as he was getting ready to leave. She looked so peaceful that he didn't want to wake her, maybe he should have.

"Captain?" O'Neill said, softly, as he looked into Carter's eyes.

"Holy Hannah!" Carter exclaimed before burying her face in her hands. "This cannot be happening, this cannot be happening," she continued in a whisper that only she could hear. Confusion was evident on everyone's faces except for Liz and Jack's. General Hammond was trying to figure out what to do with the current situation when he was saved by a knock at the briefing room door.

"Come in," Hammond called.

"General Hammond, sir. Dr. Warner wanted me to inform you that the Alternate Carter is awake, sir," the Sergeant informed him.

"Thank you. Dismissed, Sergeant." Hammond commanded. "The rest of the conversation will have to wait until later. Let's go see what else we can find out from our other visitor."

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Please tell me what you think, nothings better than receiving reviews on your birthday (even the bad ones:-P)...yeah I went there…Happy Birthday to me (well in 4 hours:-P)


	4. The Tale

Thanks again to my awesome Beta Wendy! You rock:P.

A/N on a reply: antares5 (): I am an American and very proud of it. I also know that Bill Clinton was re-elected in 1996 (I stayed up all night watching the election results flow in like I have every election since I was 9). I also know that in 2004 we re-elected Bush. In the Stargate Universe, in 2004, they elected Hayes since we never saw another episode like Inauguration and I got the impression (might have been said in the episode even but I haven't seen that one in a long time) that whomever was before Hayes had been there the previous seasons which means he would have been elected in 1996. I thank you taking the time to write the review but I do state that its an AU fic, and Stargate itself is an alternate reality due to the fact that they have a President Hayes.

To the other reviewers that I could not reply to thanks for the reviews and the Birthday wishes:P

Now on with the show:-D

* * *

SG1, Hammond, Fraiser, and Liz all crowded around the lone occupied bed in the infirmary. The Alternate Carter still looked worse for wear but was calm again with Liz at her side.

"I'll try to make this explanation as short as possible, Sirs." Alternate Carter started to speak in a quiet, raspy, labored voice. "Apophis arrived in Earth's orbit a little over a week ago. He was there but he didn't attack. We watched and waited on our toes for 2 whole days before we caught on that he _was_ attacking us," a pause, " with an airborne biological weapon. People around the world started getting sick and dying. Best we could tell was that some people had a natural immunity to the bio weapon. By the time the weapon had run its course, less than 10 percent of the population remained. And that's when the aerial assault started; first the big cities were bombed, then the Jaffa began a ground attack, killing anyone they saw."

She paused for a moment, taking a sip of water that Fraiser had offered her before continuing, "We tried contacting our allies but we got no reply. That's when I remembered the quantum mirror that Daniel had found a few years before. It was still in the storage room on base, it had been kept there after we had a copy of Kawalski and myself come through."

"We had a similar situation here," Jackson added.

Alternate Carter nodded her head in acknowledgement before continuing her tale, "I knew that if I had more time, I would be able to find a cure and get back home to help other planets. I know my Earth is ruined, but I couldn't bear the thought of him wiping out other worlds. Jack agreed to my plan and together we, and a few other base personnel that were still alive, made a run for the storage room. As you can tell, sirs, it was a last ditch effort. I have with me all of my SGC's research material, and a sample of the bio weapon in the left upper pocket of my vest." Looking emotionally and physically drained, the Alternate Carter finished her monologue.

"Sir, if we could, I would like to get working on this right away." Dr. Fraiser asked as she turned towards General Hammond.

"Permission granted, doctor. Get Dr. Warner to help." Fraiser nodded and left to go find Dr. Warner. "Major Carter, I would like you to work with Dr. Fraiser on this, too." Hammond commanded. Major Carter nodded in understanding, but stayed where she was as Hammond turned his attention towards O'Neill and Teal'c. "I would like you two to set up guard over the mirror, just in case." Teal'c bowed and left the infirmary as O'Neill simply nodded before following Teal'c out.

"General Hammond, Sir," Alternate Carter spoke up once again. "I just wanted to warn you, sir, that we were not able to spot Apophis in orbit 'till it was too late. He just appeared the day before we believe the bio weapon was launched."

"Noted. I will send word to the Tok'ra and the Asgard to see if they know anything about a possible attack in this reality." Hammond said before making his way towards the door. "I have to inform the president of this matter."

Jackson started to follow Hammond out of the infirmary when he noted Carter was still standing there. After a moment, he decided it would be best for him to leave her alone with her alternate self. He walked out of the room.

"Uh…" Carter started to speak, but stopped short. She always found it hard talking to a different version of herself. She would have to get over that since it seemed to happen frequently, too frequently. "So. What should we call you? Calling you Alternate Major Carter is a mouthful."

"You could always call me Sam, or Major O'Neill, if you like. I haven't been called Carter in over 5 years now." Major O'Neill replied.

"Can I ask you a question?" Carter asked, nervously. Major O'Neill nodded. "How did you know that the 'Colonel' from the masquerade ball was Jack O'Neill. Colonel could be almost any branch of the military, and he didn't leave any information." Carter blurted out her question as fast as she could.

"Jack did leave a note that morning, at least my Jack did." Major O'Neill answered. "My Jack had left a note in my purse telling me that he had to leave because of a meeting. He said he wanted to see me again and left a number to contact him after his meeting. Something about him made me call him that night and we have been together ever since." She stopped and a look of grief passed over her face as she remembered all that had happened in her reality. Carter walked to her side and put a tentative hand on her shoulder to provide as much comfort as she could. They both looked down at Liz sleeping peacefully.

"How about tomorrow I get Liz out of here for a few hours to play?" Carter said after a few moments. "I'm sure General Hammond will approve since a base is no place for a child, especially one underground." Carter finished, trying to lighten the mood.

"Thanks. I'm sure she would like that." Major O'Neill replied as she ran her fingers through Liz's hair.


	5. The truth

Thanks to my wonderful Beta Wendy for another chapter, even with all the headaches.

To those that reviewed the last chapter. I hope to respond to them soon; life has attacked full force so hopefully it calms down a bit and I can get back to it.

Also just becuase I say life has attacked full force does it mean there will be a delay...the story is all done...Wendy has it:-P

Please read and review, good and bad I like them all.:-P

* * *

After a long night with her father off world, and a much longer day working with Janet on Major O'Neill's biological weapon, Carter needed sleep and she needed to see her daughter. As she pulled into her driveway at 2200hrs she was not expecting to see a little girl running towards her in blue pajamas, with her hair done up in plaits.

"Mommy! You're home early! Barbara said you wouldn't be home for another two days. Did Aunt Janet have to fix up one of your teammates again? How is grandpa?" Carter just let the questions flow out of her ever curious child, and she picked up the little girl now standing in front of her.

"No, Grace, I came home early because someone visited my place of work and I had to be there. Now, were you nice to Barbara while I was gone?" Carter asked, as she acknowledged the older lady standing just outside the door.

"Yes, mommy."

"Then why aren't you in bed little one?" Carter asked, as she gave Grace's tummy a tickle.

"But Mommy, you just got home."

"I know I did but its 2200, and you should be in bed." Grace had a look of guilt on her face as Barbara spoke up for the child.

"Ms. Carter, that would be my fault. Grace convinced me to let her see the end of the show on TV. I didn't know it was a 2-hour special, Ma'am."

At this Carter turned her attention from Barbara over to Grace.

"Missy, what was on that was so important? You know the rule, nothing on TV is more important that what's happening in the real world."

"But mommy it was educational! I had to see it." Grace said, innocently. Carter gave her a stern look, letting her know that she wasn't amused.

"Go brush your teeth. I'll be up in a second to tuck you in." With that she put the little girl back on the ground. And like a whirlwind, the blonde ran back into the house.

"Ms. Carter, do you need me tomorrow or do you have the day off?" Barbara asked, after they had followed the little girl in the house.

"Just for half the day. I am bringing a friend for Grace to play with in the afternoon so I should be back before lunch." Carter answered as Barbara grabbed her bag from the guest bedroom.

"Alright, Ms. Carter. Well I'll see you tomorrow morning then. Good night." Barbara said, before quickly adding, "there are also some leftovers in the fridge, if you would like."

"Thank you, Barbara. Good night and drive safe."

Locking the door behind Barbara, Carter made her way through the house. Turning off the lights and the TV as she went towards Grace's bedroom.

"Grace, how would you feel about meeting someone new tomorrow?" With that Grace's eyes lit up, so Carter already knew the answer.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, the visitor I told you about has a little girl your age."

"Yay! What is she like? Is she nice? Does she like to-" she started to rattle off questions but Carter put up her hand up, stopping the child's endless list of questions.

"Grace, you will have to wait till tomorrow to find out the answers for yourself. You have to go to bed right now."

"Yes, Ma'am." Grace complied.

"Night, sweetie." Carter said as she leaned over and kissed Grace goodnight.

"Night, mommy."

Carter turned off the lights to Grace's room and closed the door, leaving a slight crack and made her way down the hall towards her room. Finally in her own room she let what Major O'Neill had told her earlier sink in. The alternate Jack had left a note. Why hadn't her Jack left a note? Why hadn't her Jack left a note in her purse?

...or had he?

Moving swiftly from her door she ran towards her closet. Pulling out clothes left and right, looking for the bag that stored her outfit from that night. She never had been able to bring herself to wear it again or to throw it away. Finally spotting it in the back left hand corner of her closet, she pulled it out and placed it gently on the bed. She stared at the bag but couldn't open it. Standing up, she made her way towards her bathroom and got ready for bed. Trying to build the nerve to open the bag.

Dressed and ready for bed, she tentatively walked towards the bed and leaned over. She decided that the band-aid method would have to do. Leaning forward, she took the zipper of the garment bag in her fingers and opened the bag. There in front of her was her midnight blue gown. Pulling it out, she placed it to the side and then took out the simple silver clutch purse.

Closing her eyes, she counted to 10 before opening the purse and looking inside. What she found was what she feared.

Nothing, her Jack had left her nothing.

With tears running down her face, she dropped her purse back into the bottom of the garment bag. She paused as she looked at it again. Carter picked it back up and shook it. "Holy Hannah," she whispered. Peering into the bag again, she felt around; there was definitely something at the bottom of the purse. Turning the lining inside out, she found that the bottom had a good sized hole in it. Curiously, she began to fish around through the fabric. First she pulled out a stick of gum and a few coins. Looking frustrated, she went back in and felt around till she found what felt like a piece of paper.

She pulled out the piece of paper as she held it between two fingers. She immediately noticed the writing on the outside, 'Captain', in Jack's distinct scrawl. Sucking in a deep breath, she opened the note and started to read.

_Captain,_

_Sorry __I'm __not here when you wake__,__ but I have a meeting to attend and you looked to__o__ peaceful to wake __up__. _

_I had a wonderful time and would like to see you again. Please give me a call anytime after 1700 at 703-555-2020_

'_Colonel' Jack O'Neill._

Holding a hand to her mouth, Carter couldn't contain it anymore. She crumbled to the floor as she wept.


	6. Are you alright?

Thanks again to Wendy the super Beta! I know I told someone that Liz and Grace meeting was soon...yeah I was off...forgive me:-D

Read and review; feed me please:-D Good, bad, I don't care:-P

* * *

Carter had followed Janet back to her office, taking a seat across from her friend. They had just finished working on the first batch of their antidote, they were optimistically confident that it would pass the test. Dr. Warner had been a big help, and they were able to finish the first trial well before they had originally intended. This gave Carter some free time before she met her daughter at lunchtime.

Janet was already sorting through her files on her desk, without looking up she started to speak, "Sam, something on your mind?"

"Hmmm?" Carter replied, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Not that I don't want you here, its just that I have work to do and you have a daughter to see."

"I need to," Carter started as she motioned around her, namely towards the lone occupant in the infirmary. "She answered questions that I always had, but now that I know the answer," she paused for a moment, "I don't know."

"What do you want?" Janet asked as she looked over at her troubled friend.

"I really don't know," Carter started. "It was easier to be mad at myself for letting myself get into that situation. It's not something I am proud of but for one night I threw caution out the window and the result was not what I expected, but I would never change it for the world. Not knowing who the father was has always bothered me because was the man really as wonderful as I remembered? Now knowing that 'My Colonel' has been my CO for the past 4 years." Carter stopped, and just when Janet was going to speak, Carter started to talk again.

"You know what's funny is I went to that inaugural ball with Jonas. He had asked me a month before to go with him, and even after breaking off the engagement I told him I would still go. One ball, I told him. Of course it was the same ball my father wanted me to attend, so I was stuck going anyway; I just figured I would have a better time with Jonas, faults and all, than with my father." Carter paused to shrug. "Looking back I don't know if my dad would have been a better date or not, considering Jonas left me in the beginning to go try to schmooze with the higher ups." Janet gave her hand a squeeze.

"Well, Sam, you couldn't have picked a better man to sweep you off your feet."

"Tell me about it," Carter muttered with a blush before burying her head in her hands.

"Just promise me that you will talk to him about it sooner rather than later?" Janet said, giving Carter's hand another reassuring squeeze. The moment was broken when the sound of alarms rang in the infirmary. Janet let go and ran towards the patient; along with a flock of nurses to settle the patient back down while Carter looked on. Once the commotion wore down, Janet walked back to Carter. "She's not doing well, Sam. She had a lot more internal injuries that we originally thought."

"Well is she going to be alright?"

"At the moment, I don't know." Carter just nodded her head in understanding at Janet's statement. "I do know that little girl shouldn't be around places like this. Why don't you and Liz head home now? I'm sure Grace would love to see you early for once. Go, there is nothing you can do till the tests are done." Carter nodded her head in agreement, and went to pick up the little girl from Daniel, forever grateful that he had taken her from the infirmary earlier to 'play'.

"Call me when the results from the test are ready." Carter called to Janet over her shoulder as she started to make her way towards Daniel's office. She never made it because an announcement came over the loud speaker for SG1 to report to the Briefing Room. "Well. There goes any chance of being early."

* * *

Last to arrive, she was greeted by her father.

"Dad, I take it you got General Hammonds message?" Carter said as she went to hug her father.

"I did. George was just filling me in on all the fine details on the other Major Carter." Jacob said.

"Major O'Neill." Carter corrected. Her father raised a questioning brow. "She said that she hasn't been a Carter in years," Sam added.

"Ah. Well I did have the pleasure of meeting her daughter. She corrected me when I called her Grace." Jacob said, as he pointed towards the end of the briefing room table where Liz was drawing on some paper next to Teal'c.

Hammond took his seat and everyone followed suit.

"Jacob." Hammond said as he looked towards his long time friend.

Clearing his throat, Jacob started, "I was actually on my way here when I had received your message. We have just started receiving reports from within Apophis' ranks and they aren't good. It looks like he is planning an attack with his new state-of-the-art battleship soon."

"Do you have any more information?" Daniel asked.

Shaking his head, Jacob answered, "Sorry, that's all we know as of right now."

"Teal'c, is there anyway you can contact Bra'tac to see what he knows?" Hammond asked, as he looked down towards the end of the table where Teal'c was sitting.

"I will contact him immediately." Teal'c said, evenly.

"Let's hope this is not like the ship that Apophis used in Major O'Neill's reality. Regardless, I want the antidote finished and given to the CDC as soon as possible. Let's hope we don't have to use it. Also, I want the base prepared and I will contact the President to tell him he should be prepared." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "Dismissed."

As everyone made their way to the door, Jacob caught Sam's arm before she could make her way to Liz. "Sam, how are you doing?" He whispered to her questioningly.

"I'm doing fine, dad." Carter gave in her standard 'fine' tone.

Jacob wore a skeptical look. "Really, dad, right now I am worried about the antidote and the possible invasion. At the moment I can't really worry about my life turning upside down. I need to head home and see Grace because who knows when I will see her again with all that is going on. Are you coming?" Carter asked.

"No, I have to head back and report. Hopefully I will be back in a few days. Tell Grace I love her, and will see her soon." With that he hugged Carter and kissed her on the forehead. "Bye, Sammie." Sam cringed at the name but smiled when she saw her father's face; he had done it on purpose.

"Bye, dad." She said, as he walked down to the control room, to talk to the Sergeant about a trip back to the Tok'ra's current headquarters.

"Hey, Carter?" Carter turned around to see Jack standing alone just behind Liz's chair. He looked nervous with his hands shoved as deeply into his pockets as he could manage, while rocking on his heals like a child. "Got a minute?"

So much for not thinking of her personal life.


	7. The talk

Sorry for the delay...life has been...life:P My wonderful Beta Wendy has done an excellent job again so hip hip horray for WENDY!

Now on with the show, and as always feed the stravin' FF writer, read and review:D

* * *

"Sir?" Carter answered.

"How are you doing with all of this? And don't say 'got a couple of hours?' like you said last time," replied O'Neill, trying to lighten the mood.

"Fine, Sir." Carter answered quickly, until she noted O'Neill's expression that _fine_ wasn't going to work this time. "Everything is just a bit more complicated this time," she added, as she looked down at Liz still intently coloring at the table.

"Yeah," O'Neill agreed before he looked down at his shoes with great interest. "Does she look like Liz?"

"Yeah," Carter started looking down at the little girl completely zoned into her drawing next to O'Neill, "she does."

"If I had known Carter I-" O'Neill started, but Carter cut him off,

"I didn't know it was you."

"I left you a-" O'Neill said as he looked back up at her.

"I know that now," Carter started as O'Neill gave a puzzled look. "Major O'Neill told me. I found it last night; it had slipped into the lining of my purse."

"Ah."

"Yeah." Carter bit her lower lip.

"O'Neill?"

"Sir?" She questioned, confused.

"You said Major O'Neill." O'Neill explained.

"Oh. Yeah, the alternate me hasn't been a Carter in over 4 years." Carter supplied the information that Major O'Neill had given her yesterday.

"Ah." O'Neill looked down at Liz's picture of lots of scribbles that he assumed were people. "I didn't want to leave that morning. I wanted to stay until you woke up. It was one of the last meetings I had to attend before they would finally let me retire. I left the note hoping you would call but when you didn't. I had no way of contacting you. Do you know how many Captains there are?" O'Neill added to try and lighten the mood, and it appeared he was successful when a small smile appeared on Carter's face.

"More than there were Colonels to look up?" Carter smiled as she quipped back. "I don't regret that night. The results of that night are the things I hold dear to my heart. Liz and Grace mean everything to me, even though I only had Liz for a short while." Carter paused as she tried to regain her composure. A lot of memories had been dug up in the past 24 hours. O'Neill gently put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"It was hard there for a while. When Jonas found out about my pregnancy he went off the deep end. The subject of children was one of the reasons we broke up; I wasn't ready yet and he wanted a baseball team and right then." Watching O'Neill as he began seething, Carter quickly added, "he never hurt me, just threats. Luckily I had my father there to help. He was a lot more understanding about it than I thought he would be." O'Neill raised an eyebrow in Teal'c-like fashion. Carter could sense his doubt so she continued. "He was furious, but he was there every step of the way. Dad was always protecting, even when Jonas tried to say the kids were his. Dad knew that if I said they weren't Jonas' then they weren't his. He put Jonas in his place." Carter stopped talking for a moment remembering all the pain that Jonas had put her through; even in death he haunted her. O'Neill gave her shoulder another quick squeeze of comfort.

"When I got transferred here from D.C., I had just lost Liz in the car accident and dad helped watch Grace for a few months while I tried getting my bearings here. After Dad joined the Tok'ra, I already had Janet and Barbara," O'Neill looked down at Carter in confusion. "She's Grace's babysitter."

"What is she like?" O'Neill asked, and Carter understood he was asking about Grace.

"She has a lot of energy, always moving around, a lot like you actually, always picking up things and fiddling with them. But when she breaks something she sometimes can put it back together." She looked up at O'Neill to see his face expressing mock hurt. Carter smiled a little as she continued, "she can light up a room with her humor and is pretty smart for her age. She looks just like Liz, brown eyes; I now know the reason why they look so much like yours. If I had known..."

"Carter, don't beat yourself up over it. We know now." O'Neill said softly, as he cut Carter's statement short.

"Can I meet her?" O'Neill asked, after a long pause.

"Yes, Sir," Carter replied.

"Carter, are you going to introduce me as Sir or Colonel?" O'Neill asked, with a crooked smirk on his face. Carter gave him one of her bright smiles.

"I'll introduce you as whatever you want to be called."

"Dad?" He asked, not even sure of himself.

"If that's what you want to be." Carter answered, tentatively.

"I would like that." O'Neill said, softly. "When can I meet her?"

"Right now I am getting ready to take this little one," Carter started as she motioned down to Liz who was still zoned into her masterpiece that she was creating with the crayons; _definitely __a Carter_, O'Neill mused, "to have a play date with Grace at my house. You can come along if you like, or you can wait till I leave to bring Liz back here and have dinner with Grace and I?"

"I'll come over when you go to drop Liz off." O'Neill said, as he looked at the little girl finishing off her art project. "I would like to meet my munchkin one on one. If that's okay with you, Carter?"

"That's fine."

"Also, Carter, at some point we need to talk things out a little more," O'Neill added, as he gave her shoulder one last squeeze of comfort before he started helping Liz pack up the crayons and drawings.

"Agreed, Sir."

"We're also going to have to work on the Sir and Colonel thing." O'Neill said with a smirk. Carter smiled back.

"Along with the Carter problem, Sir." She quipped. Carter looked down at her watch seeing that it was almost 12. "Sir, we better get going." She said, as she pointed to Liz. "I told Barbara I would be back by lunch. Bye, Colonel."

"Bye Alternate Daddy." Liz said, as she looked up at O'Neill before taking Carter's offered hand.

"See ya later." O'Neill waved as the two headed out the briefing room door. O'Neill stood for a moment. "I have a daughter," he whispered to himself with a smile.


	8. Ice cream and waiting rooms

A/N: Sorry for the delay, my awesome beta Wendy (many thanks again) and I apparently got a life at the same time (hectic) and have been playing IM tag for a while. So here is the next installment. As noted before all chapters are done and with Wendy so you wont be left with an unfinished story I promise.

Now on with the show...and of course Reading and Review is encouraged and very much welcomed...feed the writer:D

* * *

O'Neill had arrived on time to watch Grace while Carter drove Liz back to the base. She had just lead him into the kitchen so she could throw the casserole into the oven when her house phone rang. He could tell she was talking to Daniel, and he knew it wasn't good. Hearing her hang up the phone, he knew by the look on her face that dinner was cancelled.

"Major O'Neill just suffered a major entropic cascade failure event. I thought she still had more time, but I guess she's more like me than I thought. With her already weakened body, Janet is rushing her down to surgery. It doesn't look good." Carter said, solemnly. "Daniel said…"

"Why don't you go? I have the girls, there is no reason Liz needs to see her mom in her current state and there is nothing she can do while her mom is in surgery." O'Neill suggested, "Besides how hard can watching two little girls be?" O'Neill added before taking in the full appearance of his 2IC. She looked like she had been to an all night kegger and had woke up in the middle of the party dish of chocolate and then someone had decided to douse the sleeping chick with flour. "Go ahead, I got it really. I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Carter raised her eyebrow, causing him to repeat himself, "really."

"Alright, well dinner is in the oven. It's spaghetti casserole and it has about," looking down at her watch, "20 minutes left. Salad is in the fridge, Grace has to finish her salad before she may have second helping of spaghetti. Liz, too. Bed time is at 8:30, and don't let them talk you into letting them finish watching a show." Carter kept the list going.

"Carter, I know how to watch a child. Trust me, I can handle it." O'Neill said, stopping her list in its tracks. "I will even make sure they brush their teeth, and read them a story. If I have any problems I will call you or one of the million numbers I see on the side of your fridge. Now go."

Running over to the girls playing in the living room, she gave Grace a kiss on the cheek and explained that O'Neill would be watching them. She then picked up her purse and ran towards the door, running a hand threw her hair in an attempt to shake the flour out of it.

Liz and Grace sat there in the middle of the room, looking at O'Neill as he made his way from the doorway towards them.

"Hey, munchkins. I was thinking, how would you like to go out and get ice cream after dinner?" O'Neill asked, "That is, of course, if you are good and eat all your dinner, including your salad." O'Neill added, no stranger to bribing kids to get what needed to be done. Both little heads bobbed up and down with enthusiasm.

"Sweet." Liz and Grace replied at once.

-----

Carter made her way towards the base; through all the checkpoints and down to the infirmary in record time. Daniel was waiting outside the infirmary, waiting for her.

"How is she doing? Any updates from Janet?" Carter asked while catching her breath.

Seeing Daniel's face she knew that the news wasn't good.

"Janet just came out. She said it's touch and go since she just had another episode of entropic cascade failure. They don't know if she can make it through another one." Daniel stated with a hint of sadness.

Carter just nodded that she understood all he had said. "Should I get Liz here now? So she can see her mom?" Carter asked, tentatively.

"Let's not give up on Janet or Major O'Neill yet, but you might want to tell whoever is watching her to be ready to leave just in case they have to get her fast." Daniel answered. "Sam?"

"Hmm?" Carter half answered since her mind was still thinking about Liz and Major O'Neill.

"She wanted you to have Liz incase she didn't make it. She said there is no one left to watch her." Carter took a seat at the news; thinking how much her life had changed in the last 24 hours. Lost in thought, she didn't notice Daniel leave her side or the fact that 2 hours had passed since she got there. It took the PA system paging SG-1 to the briefing room to pull her back to reality.

"What now?" Carter asked to herself.


	9. Just Great!

Thanks again to my wonderful Beta. Sorry this chapter is late, when my beta finished it I was gone on an Epic trip down south so I missed out on the pretty beta'ed chapter till today.

Enjoy and as always Read and Review:D

* * *

O'Neill made his way through the door to the Briefing Room. He had made really good time considering he had two little girls with him, but even then he knew he would be the last to arrive.

"Sorry I'm late," O'Neill said, as he walked towards the empty chair next to Jacob. "Had to drop the girls off at the nursery."

"What nursery?" Carter asked, a subtle tone of worry in her voice. "Why didn't you call Barbara or Mrs. Jones next door?"

"Upstairs in NORAD." O'Neill answered. "And I called all the numbers on your phone list but it seems everyone has a life. I called Dixon, and he said the nursery upstairs was the best in the area, so I called them and they said they could take the girls tonight for a few hours. After they confirmed with one of the nurses that their shots were up to date. I guess Janet has Grace's records here, too?"

Carter just nodded her head.

"I didn't know NORAD had a nursery." Carter stated.

"I didn't either 'till I called Dixon." O'Neill replied as he sat down, "so, what's the story?"

"Jacob was just starting to fill us in." Hammond answered.

"As I was saying, we just got new intel from our operatives in Apophis' fleet. He's going to attack Earth, and his new ship left sometime within this week." Jacob said, filling O'Neill in on what he missed.

"Wait a minute, yesterday you told us that the Tok'ra has just received reports that he was planning a attack and now you tell us the ship has left and you don't know when?" O'Neill interjected.

"It takes a while for the information to get back to us. Sometimes a few days, sometimes a few weeks." Jacob explained.

"What is this, game of telephone? Is the information even good?" O'Neill asked.

"Yes, Jack, the intel is reliable. It just takes a while to get to us. The information I have was just dropped off, and it was from a different route to the last information we received this morning but from the same operative." Jacob answered.

"So you have no idea when it's going to be here?" O'Neill questioned.

"Correct."

"Do you at least know what planet he is coming from?" O'Neill asked, frustrated.

"That's where I just spent the last few hours. There is nothing there. It almost looks like no one has ever been there, except for the area of barren land where the ship was being built." Jacob informed.

"How long do you think it will take for Apophis to get here?" General Hammond asked.

"Two days, if he is coming straight here." Jacob answered, a look of panic appeared on everyone's face.

"Major Carter, do you know how the test went with the antidote?" Hammond asked.

"Dr. Warner was checking on it as I was coming here, sir. I am sure-" Carter couldn't continue to answer as the klaxon started blaring over the base system.

_Unscheduled off-world activation._

"What in Gods name…" Hammond mumbled, as he and the rest of the group made their way down to the control room.

"Sir, it's Bra'tac's IDC." Sergeant Harriman stated.

"Open the iris, Sergeant." Hammond commanded as everyone made way towards the Gate Room.

"Bra'tac, how's it looking out there?" O'Neill asked.

"It does not look good." Bra'tac answered

"That's what he said." O'Neill said, pointing to Jacob.

"General Hammond, perhaps we should continue this conversation in the briefing room?" Bra'tac asked.

"Of course, Bra'tac."

With everyone sitting around the table again, along with the addition of Bra'tac and Dr. Warner, Bra'tac started, "I am sorry that I was not able to come once I got word from Teal'c. I had received word that Apophis is sending several ships to Earth, along with his new ship."

"Yeah we know that. Do you, by any chance, know when they left? Tok'ra Town doesn't seem to know, and its kind of impo--" O'Neill remarked before being interrupted.

"Colonel!" Hammond reprimanded as O'Neill threw his hands up in aggravation.

"I believe he left one of your days ago, and his plan of attack is to come straight here." Bra'tac answered, ignoring O'Neill's outburst and the subsequent reprimand from Hammond.

"Great!" O'Neill muttered.

"Colonel! That is enough." Hammond reprimanded, again. "Bra'tac, is there anything else you can tell us?"

"We have received word that his newest battleship is armed with a weapon far more powerful than any weapon used before. I have procured a sample of the new weapon." Bra'tac said as he reached into his robe and pulled out a small vial. "It is said that it rains from the sky and kills all that touch or drink it, even Jaffa."

Another sarcastic 'great' was heard muttered by O'Neill, but all chose to ignore it as Hammond moved on to question the other new occupant in the room.

"Dr. Warner," Hammond started, "how did the test go?"

"It was a success, as for real world application I believe it will work." Dr. Warner replied.

"Good, I want you to take Bra'tac's sample and test it against the sample that came through with Major O'Neill. If it is the same, I need to know how fast you can make the antidote. And you need to get the information out to the CDC as fast as possible so they can begin production."

"Yes, sir, I'll get right on it." Dr. Warner said, as he picked up the vial from Bra'tac and left the room.

"You believe you have a way to fight this weapon?" Bra'tac asked.

"We hope." Hammond answered.

"Bra'tac, you wouldn't happen to have any ships nearby to help us, would you?" O'Neill questioned, with curiosity.

"Very few, O'Neill. We have control of two of the ships in the attack fleet and we are working on getting aboard the other ships." Bra'tac replied

"Are any of your guys on the new ship?" O'Neill asked, with a glimmer of hope.

"No."

"Damn!" O'Neill said before turning to Jacob. "Selmak, is there any possibility of help from the Tok'ra?"

Jacob dipped his head and closed his eyes as Selmak took over, "I will have to put this before the council, but I do not believe we have anything that could help in time. But I will try."

"Thank you." Hammond said.

"Sir, have we heard back from the Asgard?" Carter spoke up.

"No, Major, we have not. I am going to send SG-4 back to Cimmeria to send another message to Thor." Hammond stated.

"You know that treaty we signed is looking more and more like kindling right now." O'Neill stated, simply, as the others secretly nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Bra'tac, Jacob and Selmak for your reports. For now all we can do is wait for Dr. Warner's final report, and hope it is good news." Hammond said, "I am assuming you both need to get back?"

"Yes, thank you." Bra'tac answered.

"If you don't mind, Bra'tac, I will go with you then travel from there." Jacob requested. Bra'tac nodded his head to say that it was alright, and they both headed towards the control room with Jacob taking a brief pause to give his daughter a quick hug. Hammond made his way towards his office; officially dismissing SG-1.

Carter stood up and made her way out of the briefing room, "I think I'm going to go check on Major O'Neill before I go and check on Grace and Liz."

"I'll go with you." O'Neill stated, before following her. Not only wanting to check in on Major O'Neill but not wanting to pass up the opportunity to see the girls.


	10. Sleeping

Sorry this took so long but it seems my awesome beta (WENDY!) and I have crazy RLs. Hopefully the next chapter will come faster:P Again its all with the Beta now so it is done done:D

Enjoy:P

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Arriving outside the infirmary, O'Neill and Carter saw Fraiser walking down the hall from the operating theater; wiping a stray hair from out of her face.

"Janet, how is she?" Carter asked.

"I'm sorry, She died on the table 10 minutes ago. I couldn't stop her the bleeding," Fraiser said with a look of despair.

"You tried," Carter said, as she put her hand on Fraiser's shoulder for comfort.

"Still not good enough," she said. "Look I have to get back in there." Fraiser continued, pointing towards the infirmary where another SG team were waiting for their post mission check-up.

"Go, I'll catch up with you later for a drink," Carter replied, as she watched Fraiser walk out of the room.

"Yeah, that would be good," Fraiser answered.

O'Neill and Carter made their slow, quiet walk towards the elevators and stepped in. O'Neill pressed the button before speaking up. "You should take the girl's home, I'm sure it would be more comfortable for them."

"I wish I could, but I need to help Janet and Dr. Warner in the lab. I want to make sure we are as prepared as possible," Carter said. "That and I don't want to disturb them. I'm sure they are asleep by now."

O'Neill nodded his head as he remembered all the times he woke up Charlie when he was that age, it was best to leave them be.

"Just don't forget to sleep yourself, Carter," O'Neill stated.

"I won't, Sir," Carter replied.

"Why does everyone call me Sir?" O'Neill asked.

"Sir?"

"Your daughter called me Sir all night. The lady at the ice cream place thought it odd that I had two little girls with me, one calling me Jack and the other one Sir. Now I understand Liz calling me Jack, not wanting to confuse Grace and all. But all Grace would call me was Sir. Sir this and Sir that," O'Neill said. He threw his hands in the air as the elevator door opened to the NORAD level 1. Carter smiled at his frustration but was glad for the lightened mood, considering everything that was going on.

"She must have heard me calling you Sir, Sir," she stated as she walked out of the elevator leaving an amused O'Neill in her wake. She stopped and turned around just in time to see O'Neill smile as he passed her, since he knew the way to the nursery.

The nursery was more than Carter expected, especially since it was in the middle of a military base in a mountain. But the main room looked like an outside area, benches at the side of the room with a few swings, and a fort in the middle of the room. All along the border of the room was an area for tricycles and big wheels. Off the main room were many doors, and by the look of the artwork on the doors, they were for all the different age groups.

"How did I not know about this?" Carter asked, more to herself than to anyone in particular.

"You were too busy with your doodads," O'Neill answered before walking towards what Carter assumed was the head of the daycare. "Hey, we just wanted to check in on them before heading back in," O'Neill whispered.

"That's fine," she said. She pointed to the room off to the left, "I'll be here if you have any questions."

Carter lead the way to the room and opened the cracked door the rest of the way revealing six beds, four of which were bunked against the far walls. Liz and Grace were on the two single beds in the middle of the room, sleeping soundly. Carter made her way over to Grace and moved the hair out of her face before kissing her on top of her head, then moved to Liz and did the same. O'Neill watched from the doorway in awe, never having seen the maternal side of Carter before. He then made his way over to the little girls and took a closer look at them now that they were asleep.

They were identical, and had he not put them into their PJs he never would have been able to tell them apart. How Carter was able to tell the difference boggled the mind. Not knowing what to do, he gently placed a hand on Grace's head- just admiring the little girl that was his. He then turned his attention over to Liz, and although she wasn't technically his child he couldn't help but feel love for her just like Grace. Taking his hand he moved over to Liz and repeated the same gesture. Hearing a noise, he looked over to see Carter in the doorway with a tear running down her face. O'Neill moved towards her.

"Daniel told me that Major O'Neill wanted me to keep Liz should she..." Carter started, but the tears overwhelmed her.

"Shhh," O'Neill said, while he ran his hand through her hair.

"I have lost her once before," Carter tried to speak again. "What's to say..."

"Don't say that. You weren't at fault," O'Neill paused. "I was with them both for a few hours, the other Carter and you have raised very wonderful girls. They were both 'my mom this and my mom that'. You have done well and you will carry on doing well, and if you will let me, I would like another try to do well."

"Of course, Jack, if I had known."

"Shhh, stop beating yourself up over this. You didn't know," he started as he caressed her hair some more. "I know now and I don't want to miss another day." He took her in his arms and hugged her, until she realized that she had to get back to work. Stepping back, she hated to break the mood of the moment but she wiped the tears from her face.

"I would like to do breakfast tomorrow, all of us. So we can talk about everything," O'Neill stated, hopefully.

"Make it lunch," Carter replied as she looked at her watch. "I don't know if I will have enough time to eat and visit."

"How about the girls and I have breakfast, and I run them to your house for some fresh clothes and then we meet you here for lunch, maybe even get you off this base for a little bit," O'Neill asked, hopefully.

"I would like that," Carter answered. "I better get back."

"I'll see you tomorrow," he replied, as she walked out the door.


	11. Lunch

Thanks to Wendy again for being an awesome Beta. Sorry this took so long. Wendy had it ready and I was at the beach...back now so hopefully the last 5 chapters will be posted like clockwork. R&R:-P

* * *

O'Neill showed up with the girls exactly at noon. Picking up his cell phone he dialed the number for the base, and then dialed Carter's extension. When she didn't answer he hit the star key, and then the extension for the lab where she had been working with Fraiser and Warner.

"Hey, Doc, is Carter in there?" O'Neill asked, getting a negative response on the other end. "You know where she is?" He continued, as he looked at the two girls playing one of those school-girl hand-clapping games with each other. "Nah, that's alright. I got it." Closing his phone he dialed the base's number again and Daniel's extension. "Daniel? Yeah, hey, do ya know where Carter is?" He started. "Yeah, she was supposed to meet the girls and I for lunch," he started to sound frustrated. "Yeah," he fell silent for a moment; listening to Daniel prattle on. "Daniel, never mind." As he hung up the phone, he turned towards the two little girls.

"Hey girls, I'm going to need to go and find her. How would you like to play in the nursery for a little bit while I go grab her?" O'Neill asked, knowing that save calling every extension in the base, this was the fasted way to find Carter.

"Sweet," Liz answered. "I can finish my drawing!"

"Oh, me, too!" Grace followed. O'Neill walked them towards the nursery and signed them in; telling the head teacher that he would be back in little bit before heading back out the door towards the elevator.

He made his way down the hallway towards the control room to find Carter, at least he hoped she was there since Daniel seemed pretty sure that's where she said she was headed when she left his office. Walking up the steps he saw her hunched over the computer talking to Walter.

"Carter, you forget something?" O'Neill said in his best commanding voice.

"Sir?" she questioned, as she looked at her watch. "Oh, Sorry, Sir. Where are the girls?"

"Upstairs," he answered.

"Oh, do I have time to finish this?" she asked. "It will take 10 minutes, I promise."

"That's fine," he said, as he noted the time, he sat down in one of the vacant chairs in the room and started to spin around.

5 minutes later Hammond walked down the stairs from the briefing room and started to talk to one of the technicians in the back of the room. O'Neill looked at his watch and realized he may have to pull her away from her computer. The phone rang in the room and O'Neill turned to see Walter answer the phone.

"Sir, it's NORAD," Walter answered. Hammond took the phone from his outreached hand.

"Thank you, Sergeant," Hammond said, as he put the phone to his ear. "Hammond. I see. Thank you, Major." He handed the phone back to Walter and then turned towards Carter.

"Major, I hope you have good news on the antidote because NORAD just spotted 7 ships dropping into orbit," He told her, with a serious tone.

"It's a match. In fact before I came here, Dr. Warner was sending the formula to the CDC," Carter answered.

"Good, now I have a phone call to make to the President," Hammond started, as he started to walk up the spiral staircase. "Sergeant, have SG-12 in my office in 10 minutes; we need to send messages to the Asgard, the Tok'ra and to Bra'tac. Carter, O'Neill; briefing room, 20 minutes."

"I guess lunch is out, sir," Carter stated simply.

"I guess so. I'll call the nursery and see if they can watch the girls for a bit longer," O'Neill said, as he made his way towards the door.

"Thank you, sir."


	12. BOOM!

Sorry this took so long...its the end of summer so hopefully the rest of the summer crazy time goes with it...even if I am sad its over. Thanks to Wendy again for being an awesome Beta. YOU ROCK!

As always Read and Review...good ... bad...the ugly...the awesome:-P

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The head teacher from the nursery had just informed both the little girls that they would be staying there for lunch, and that Barbara would be there to pick both of them up later.

"I was really looking forward to eating with Mom," Grace said with a pout.

"This will be fun," Liz said, as she hugged Grace. "My mommy and daddy used to leave me here all the time with my sister. The lunch is always really good too!"

"Really?" Grace asked.

"Really. Come on, let's play. Bet you I can go higher!" Liz challenged, as she ran towards the swing set; Grace following closely behind.

The base started to rumble, and the alarm started to wail. Grace grabbed Liz and pulled her in the fort as things started fall around them.

"Oh, no, not again," Liz cried in terror. Grace just huddled as closely to Liz as she could. When the shaking stopped, the little girls looked one another over and saw that they both were okay, just a few bumps and scratches.

"We got to get to your mom," Liz said, and started to drag Grace out of the fort.

"No!" Grace argued as she tried to pull her hand out of Liz's. "Mom always says to stay with the adults, that she will come get me if there's a problem."

"Trust me, Grace, I have seen this before. We have to go," Liz said, showing wisdom beyond her years. Grace taking a look around her, for the first time she noticed the damage. The happy nursery wasn't as inviting as it had been 2 minutes ago. The swings were still swaying but chunks of the wall and ceiling were now scattered around the room, and the sirens were still blaring. There was a lot of commotion outside in the hallway, and their teacher was sporting a limp as she tried to gather children together with the help of the other teachers.

"Okay," Grace said, still a little unsure of what she just agreed to. Liz tugged at Grace's hand again and led her out of the room towards the base stairs. Noticing a lot of commotion around them as people quickly tried to exit, Liz figured it would be best to go to the escape tunnels.

The two girls, with all of their combined strength, pulled at the hatch and opened the door. Looking down, it was just as far to go as Liz remembered it.

"We will go down five floors and check to see if the stairs are less crowded," Liz said with authority. Grace nodded her head and the girls began to climb down.

Five floors down, there was still panic and the base started to shake again. The girls continued their climb down for another five levels. Once they had climbed down 10 levels, they found that things were calmer and they made their way to the steps.

"Where are we going to find my mom?" Grace asked.

"She's probably in the briefing room," Liz answered, quickly.

"Where's that?" Grace questioned. Liz looked up at the floor number on the wall and started counting on her fingers.

"Another 16 floors down. It's far but we got to go fast," Liz replied, and again the little girls started their way down.

Liz had been poking her head out at every few levels to make sure no one was coming, it was in one of these moments that she heard a noise she never wanted to hear again. Metal boots striking the concrete floor. _I__t's to soon_,Liz thought. Grabbing hold of Grace's hand, Liz started running the rest of the way down.

Peering out again on the level 28, Liz saw a firefight. Grabbing Grace's hand one more time, she quickly turned towards Grace.

"You trust me?" Liz asked. Grace, hearing the noise outside, just nodded her head; again wondering if she would have been safer in the nursery, but for some reason she had a feeling she wouldn't be.

"We're going to need to get help," Liz said, simply, and began running again. Why there wasn't any Jaffa in the stairwell confused her, but she wasn't going to question it too much right now. She needed to get help, and she knew just were to get it from- the mirror that was two floors up.

Opening the door, she looked around and noticed that down the hall there were marines running toward the other set of stairs. Pulling Grace's hand again, she ran down the hall toward the room where the mirror was. Opening the door, she saw it was still switched on but no one was around. It was definitely her world, it looked just as depressing as it was when she left. She picked up the remote knowing that once she moved the dial she would never be allowed to go back to her reality again. Knowing that her that her reality was no place for a little girl to live she moved the dial. Grace and Liz watched as many different versions of other realities flicked across the mirror, most looking worse than this one.

"What is this?" Grace asked as the mirror kept changing.

"It's a mirror that takes whoever touches it to another reality," Liz answered, quickly, as she kept looking at the mirror then flicking the dial. Finally, she found one that she thought looked good enough, she grabbed Grace's hand again and touched the mirror without warning or even looking back.


	13. Story Time

Sorry this took so long. My awesome Beta does have a life so hopefully now we can get the last 2 chapters and epi up fast!

Read and review!:-D

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The sounds were the same as last time, Liz thought as the lights flashed and the PA system belted out, "Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" as the sirens blared. The same sound of marines' boots running towards the room, the same smell, but this reality seemed different.

"Put your hands up. Put your hands up." Liz and Grace threw their arms up as ordered. One of the guys in the background gasped at the sight of the two little girls before regaining control of his emotions. "Give me that!" The head marine ordered.

"Sir, please don't touch it, we need help. I will put it right here," Liz said as she pointed towards the box not one foot in front of her. The marine in charge nodded that it was okay. "We need to speak to General Hammond and SG1," Liz stated, calmly, after she placed the remote on the box. The lead marine pointed towards the marine in the back, "Mason, report this to the General." Mason left the room and picked up the phone to do as instructed.

When he hung up the phone, Mason whispered to the lead Marine.

"This way," he said, and the two little girls were escorted out of the room. Liz knew they were headed to the infirmary; this wasn't new to Liz either, what was new was last time they were running there because her mom was badly hurt. As they walked slowly down the hall, Liz looked at the walls of the SGC and wondered how long it would be before the walls looked like hers or Grace's reality.

Grace looked scared as she held onto Liz's hand for dear life. Appearing in the doorway of the infirmary, Liz took a look around, Janet looked like, well, Janet.

"Mommy!" Grace yelled, as she tore her hand from Liz's and ran across the room.

"Grace, remember what I told you?" Liz said as calmly as she could, but the weight of the past few hours were taking their toll and Grace wasn't listening. Grace had her arms around the right leg of one shocked Samantha 'Sam' Carter. Liz decided realities be damned, she needed her mom, and she went up and joined Grace but chose the left leg.

General 'George' Hammond appeared in the door just as Liz attached her arms.

"Major?" George asked. Sam glanced up at George with a look of shock on her face.

"These must be the girls that came through the mirror, sir. It seems that Major Carter is their mother in their reality," Janet filled in the details, what little she had.

George stepped towards the two little girls attached to Sam's leg and bent to their level and spoke softly with his southern drawl, "Hello, my name is--"

"General George Hammond," Liz spoke softly, still hugging Sam's leg. "I know. Grace doesn't know, but we need your help. Well Grace's reality needs your help, and since I don't have a reality anymore, I guess I need your help too."

George face remained steady and calm as he listened to Liz talk, "I need you to tell me what happened," George spoke softly. Grace looked over at Liz, she noticed for the first time that Liz was just as shook up as she was.

"Mr. Hammond, sir," Grace spoke softly. "Liz and I were playing in the nursery and then the room started shaking, but it wasn't an earf-quake that made the room shake. And then Liz said we had to go downstairs to get to my mommy. Right, Liz?" Liz nodded her head while still holding on tight to Sam's leg. "We had to climb down the ladder a long way, and then run down the steps and there were lots of men in funny metal suits fighting against men that looked like him." Grace said as she pointed towards the marine still standing at the door.

"Liz said we needed help, and she took me back upstairs to a room full of boxes and there was a mirror. She said that when we touch it we will be in a different reality," Grace looked at Liz for confirmation, but received nothing except viewing the back of her head. "Since there are no men in metal suits, I guess she is right. I know this isn't my mommy because my mommy needs help, sir. I know that now, I miss my mommy and I want to go home." Grace finished, her voice quivered as the tears ran down her face. Liz looked up at George and it nearly broke his heart.

"I'll see what I can do," George said, then turned towards the door. "Major Carter, please stay with the girls. Dr Fraiser, follow me for a moment." Janet caught up with George at the door, and walked with him as he continued down the hall towards the elevators.

"I want you to check them over completely. I want you and Major Carter to find out all you can without making them feel uncomfortable. I would like to know what we are up against and if it can happen here." He stated, giving out orders.

"Yes, Sir." Janet answered. George turned and looked back down the hall towards the infirmary.

"Now I need to find out why the mirror wasn't destroyed. Dismissed."


	14. Choices

And now on with our story...:-P

Thanks again to my awesome Beta WENDY!!!!!!!!!! GOLD STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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"Liz, I'm scared," Grace said, softly.

"Me too. This is different than last time," Liz continued with a tear rolling down her face. The two girls had told Sam everything they knew; the bio weapon, the enemy. Liz became more guarded with every statement, but she gave more detailed information, while Grace revealed everything and anything she felt could help her mom and her reality.

They now laid together in one of the infirmary beds, too tired to play but too awake to sleep. No one had told them anything since Sam had left with the information hours ago. The only people they had seen were Janet and her nurses, none of which had any information.

"Do you think my mommy's okay?" Grace asked with a sniffle.

"I don't know," Liz answered, pausing before she continued, "I hope so."

"Carter?" the voice whispered. Grace knew that voice, how did she know that voice?

"Sir?" It was her mommy's voice that answered, well this version of mommy and that's when she remembered, 'Sir' was the man that came to the house and took her to the nursery with Liz. What was his name? Jack O'Neill, that's right.

"This them?" Jack asked. Grace opened her eyes a bit to watch the two of them talking. Judging by the clock on the wall and the outfit Sam was wearing, Grace knew that she and Liz had been asleep for a while.

"Yeah," Sam answered, slowly.

"They look like twins," Jack observed.

"They are."

"I thought you said--" he started.

"They are twins, sir, but they're from different realities," Sam replied. They must not have known Grace was awake.

"Hey there," Jack spoke softly. Grace looked confused for a moment and realized that he was talking to her.

"Hello," Grace replied.

"Call me Jack," he said with a smile on his face.

"Yes, sir," she replied. At that moment, Liz started to move around and wake waking up.

"Any news?" Liz asked, the sleep still in her eyes.

"I don't know," Grace said as she looked towards Sam and Jack, but the look on their faces told her that it couldn't be good. "Is my mommy alright?"

Sam and Jack looked at each other for a moment as if debating who should talk, and then Grace knew. "She's dead, isn't she?" Grace asked, tearfully.

"I'm sorry, Grace," Sam said in confirmation.

"What about Jack?" Liz asked, softly, looking at Jack and Sam.

"Sorry," was all Sam could get out this time while shaking her head.

"What about the rest of the SGC and Earth?" Liz asked, hopefully.

"The attack on the SGC was bad, but we were able to help until the Asgard, friends, were able to help. It took time, and you two have been asleep through all of it but your home is alright, Grace, it's badly hurt but Apophis wasn't able to use the weapon, just the big cities are damaged. The Asgard said they are going to help get your Earth," Sam started as she put her hand on Grace's shoulder, "back to normal."

"What will happen to us?" Grace asked, shakily, looking over at Liz who sat quietly without a reality to call her own.

"It's for you two to decide," a new voice said, coming from the door.

"Grandpa Jake?" Grace whispered, softly. "My grandpa Jake?"

"Yes, your Grandpa Jake." He walked straight over to Grace and picked her up, giving her a big hug then remembered the other little girl in the room and picked her up, too. "I may not be your Grandpa Jake, Liz, but I know he would want me to give you this," he told Liz as he gave her a well-needed hug, with just as much love as he did Grace. With both girls now in his arms, he took a seat on the bed they had just been sleeping in.

"I have 3 options for you. I want you to listen to each of them carefully before you decide, and I want you to talk this out together before you make your final decision. Also, you two can choose different choices or you can pick the same, go with what you feel is right," Jacob paused before continuing.

"The first option is to go back and live on Earth with Barbara, and I will visit like I always have." Seeing Grace's face light up, Jacob quickly continued, "It won't be easy, Earth was hit hard, especially Colorado Springs. There won't be power and running water for a while, but I know how much you love Barbara, Grace, and she said she would love to have you." As he finished, Jacob thought about how relieved Barbara was when she found out the little girl was alive. Having no children of her own, she had always considered Grace her own daughter. "Liz this option is for you too, I know she's not your Barbara but she said she would love to have you."

"Option 2 is to live with me," Grace's eyes lit up again at the thought, while Liz looked shocked. "Now, Grace, I have to tell you I don't live on Earth." Grace looked confused.

"Where do you live?" Grace questioned.

"I live on another planet, and I have to tell you Grace, where I live isn't made for little girls. I would do everything to make sure you are safe, but I can't control everything, as seen by the events that just happened on Earth, but I would love to have you or Liz there with me." Jacob paused for a moment before he continued with the last option.

"Finally, you can stay here in this reality, with this Sam," Jacob started as he pointed towards Sam, who gave a nervous smile. "This Earth won't have the same attack that you both have been through." Turning to Liz, he directed the next part just to her, "They destroyed the ship that delivered the bio weapon, and Apophis is dead here." Then he turned towards Grace and continued, "Since the ships that attacked our Earth and Apophis are dead, you don't have to worry about something like that happening here. This Sam would love to have you two, but obviously it will be different, people you know will not know you, but you will be safe." Jacob finished, and he could see the little girls started to think.

"Now we are going to leave you two so you can think about it and talk it out. Mrs. Jefferson is going to talk with you both to help you make your decision," Jacob said as he pointed to the lady standing confidently in the doorway to the room.

"We will be right outside the door when you're ready," Jacob finished and placed both of them back on the bed and gave them a quick kiss on the forehead. He walked out of the infirmary with Sam and Jack, while Mrs. Jefferson walked up to the two little girls and introduced herself.

"Which do you think they'll choose," Sam asked, pausing over his name before adding, "Jacob?"

"I honestly don't know about Liz, but I have an idea of what Grace will pick," he said as he took a seat, not saying anything more.


	15. Going Home

We are near the end my friends:D

Thanks again to my wonderful Beta Wendy for being so awesome!

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Both of the little girls walked hand in hand out of the infirmary, with Mrs. Jefferson right behind them. They both had tear marks down their faces, but looked confident in their choices, despite their young age. No child should have to make a choice like that, Jack mused while waiting. At least Mrs. Jefferson, one of the base psychiatrists on call for children coming through the 'gate, was there to help the girls sort out their emotions and to make that life-altering decision. Seeing Mrs. Jefferson nod her head in approval of the little girls decision, he felt calmer than he had just seconds ago.

"We have both made a decision," Grace started. "I'm going back. I want to stay with Barbara and Grandpa. I know it'll be hard, but I want to be with my friends even if it's not going to be the same as it was before. I want to be with Barbara, and I want to be with you, even if mommy isn't there."

"I thought you were going to say that," Jacob said with a smile. He turned his attention toward Liz, "Now what about you little lady?" Liz looked unsure of herself for a minute, and looked up at Mrs. Jefferson, wanting to confirm that she had made the right choice.

"I'm going to stay here," Liz started, with renewed confidence. "I can't go with Grace because it's not my home, and not my friends and not my grandpa. They're hers," she paused as tears started running down her face again.

"I would love to have you," Sam said as she bent down to the little girl to give her a hug. The little girl leaned in and accepted the offered hug. "I am sure you will make lots of new friends here, and they will be all yours."

After a moment Jacob spoke up, "Grace and I need to head back to our reality. We have a lot of work to do, and I need to get her settled with Barbara before reporting back to the Counsel."

Mrs. Jefferson handed Sam a card with her number on it, and Sam nodded her head in thanks. The group headed quietly towards the elevator and then continued on toward the storage room with the mirror. Jack leaned over and told Jacob a few things, quietly, as the girls both looked at each other then at the mirror.

"You sure you don't want to come?" Grace asked.

"Uh huh. I think I am making the right choice," Liz replied.

"But you don't know this Mommy," Grace continued. "I know Barbara, and she's really nice."

"She loves you. I know mommy is a good person, anywhere. Besides, I have daddy, too," Liz said as she looked over at Jack, who looked down at her with a smile before continuing his conversation with Jacob.

"I wish I had met him sooner," Grace commented, sadly. "I only got to know him for a day."

"At least you got to meet him, and he loved you," Liz whispered, soothingly.

"...I will give Colonel Dixon your message," Jacob finished before looking down at Grace. "Ready, sweetheart?"

"Hold on," Grace replied, then stepped up to Liz, "Good luck."

Liz hugged Grace. "You, too," she said before stepping back and wiping away a tear with the back of her sleeve.

"Ready, Grandpa," Grace said as bravely as she could while taking his hand.

"Goodbye," Jacob said as he touched the mirror. Then the two of them appeared on the other side, in reverse. With a slight wave, they turned and started talking to the awaiting personnel there.

Jack offered his hand to Liz.

"So, munchkin, why don't you tell us all we need to know about you?" He asked, jovially, and Liz took his hand and then grabbed Sam's hand.

"Well, it started one enchanted evening…"


	16. 2002

This is the end. All done. Thanks for those that have been with this one from the start, especially those that were here when I started it back in 2006 and then decided to delete to start it all over again this year:P. Thanks for the reviews:-D

A big wonderful thanks to Wendy (yeah that's 2 thanks in 1 day but she needs more). I am sure she is scared to get onto AIM for fear that I will ask her about the fic:P. Big Gold Star for Wendy!

and lastly...read and review:-D...please:-P

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**One Year Later (2002)**

Liz was bouncing around Sam, who was working around the kitchen. "Who's coming, mom, who?" Liz asked for the hundredth time that day. She had already been told it wasn't Grandpa Jake or Uncle Mark and the cousins and it wasn't Uncle T or Danny. All her mom would say was that it was a surprise.

"Liz, you have been waiting 3 hours, you can wait 10 more minutes," Sam replied as she wiped the countertop one more time.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Sam wiped her hands on the towel hanging on the oven. Liz was already running full tilt down the hallway to see who was at the door. "Liz, no running," Sam warned. That didn't stop the little girl as she screeched to a halt once she reached the door. She looked through the window to reveal...

"Grace!" Liz shrieked as she tried to open the door, but the lock had always been tricky to her.

"Liz," Sam said, sternly. Liz stepped away from the door as Sam expertly opened the door, welcoming Jacob and an equally excited Grace into the house.

Liz was hugging Grace before she was even in the house, already talking a mile a minute.

"Why don't you show her your newly painted room, Liz?" Sam suggested. The two little girls disappeared up the stairs and through a door.

"I take it the trip through the mirror went okay?" Sam asked.

"Yes. As well as could be with an excited 5 year old," Jacob smiled. "This was a good idea, you know, letting them see each other." Sam shrugged her shoulders before responding.

"When Hammond mentioned that he wasn't going to destroy the mirror because he knew it wouldn't be done, I figured it would be nice for the girls to see each other. Even if they only knew each other for a short amount of time, they are sisters and will always wonder about the other," Sam explained. "How is Grace?"

"She's good. She's living in Colorado Springs, in my Sam's house with Barbara. Barbara figured it would be best to keep as many things the same as possible for Grace," Jacob replied. Sam nodded her head in agreement.

"How is Earth recovering?" she asked.

"They have most things up and running, and in some cases better than they were before," Jacob started. "It's really been a wake up call; people working together to get everything done. Overall it's gone pretty well. Grace has even started school this year, so life on Earth is returning to normal, as normal as it can after all of this."

Sam nodded her head in understanding, nothing would ever be completely normal after more than half the world's population was destroyed. "What about Liz, how has she adjusted here?" Jacob asked.

"Better than I had ever hoped," Sam replied with a big smile. "It was touch and go in the beginning with nightmares and flashbacks, but those have slowly ebbed away. Now she's a happy little girl who loves kindergarten and all her new friends."

"She ran into any kids she used to go to school with in her reality?" Jacob asked out of curiosity.

"We opted to move to a different area then where she grew up to avoid that as much as possible," Sam replied. "Liz said it made things hard for her when she meet a boy at the playground that she knew and of course he didn't know her, but apparently they had been best friends along with her sister. So with a new area the likelihood of the kids in her school being the same as the kids that she played with back at the old house are less likely. Granted she will have to face seeing people some day, we are just trying to avoid it for now," Sam finished.

Heading toward the adjoining kitchen, Sam asked, "Do you need anything to drink?"

"Yes, please. A water would be nice," he called after her. Taking a look around the room, he noticed he was in a living room and walked towards the fireplace on the far wall. It held a few pictures on top of the mantel.

He looked at the first one and noted Liz was standing there with a huge grin on her face; hair in a ponytail, wearing a light pink dress and a green backpack, holding a lunch box while standing next to a mailbox. First day of school, Jacob mused before moving toward the next picture.

A picture of SG-1 that looked eerily familiar to him. It looked like one that his Sam had, Daniel still had his long hair and nerd-like appearance, Teal'c looked like a stone statue, while Jack had an un-amused look. This Sam looked like his, but her appearance was different somehow, he just couldn't quiet put his finger on it.

Moving to the next picture, he smiled and picked it up: Liz was wearing a light blue dress and had little white flowers placed sporadically in her hair, and was being held by Jack in a tux. The two were sticking their tongues out at each other while Sam laughed beside them. As he looked at Sam's dress, he smiled: seeing she was wearing the simple white dress that his wife had worn when they had gotten married all those years ago. Well the dress from when this version of Jacob got married. Her hair was twirled in a way to make it look longer than it was and little white flowers were placed throughout, just like Liz's hair.

Placing the picture back down he moved to the last one, which was of Sam in her dress and Jack in his tux, dancing at their wedding reception. Liz off to the side, being held by their Jacob.

"Our first dance," Sam said as she handed the glass of water over to him.

"Thank you," Jacob said, he took the glass and placed the picture back on the mantel. "How long?" he asked.

"Four months next week," she grinned.

"For Liz?"

"No and yes," Sam started. Jacob looked confused at the answer. "Without her, I don't think we would have gotten together anytime soon. When she told us the story of how her parents met at a masquerade ball, Jack and I were shocked at how one simple detail could change the whole night."

"What was that?" Jacob asked, curious at what the difference was.

"I went with my dad to the ball not Jonas. When I got ready to leave with Jack, you came up and asked if I was ready to go home. I always wondered the next day what I was thinking, getting ready to leave with a guy that I didn't know," Sam finished as she heard two set of feet running down the stairs.

"Mom!" The voice rounded the corner.

"What have I said about running, Liz?" The feet stopped, and a guilty looking Liz stood at the doorway.

"Sorry. Can we have a juice box and cookies outside in the fort?" Liz asked with a bounce in her step. Grace looked hopeful behind her.

"Ya betcha. Why don't you two head out and I will bring them to you?"

"Sweet!" Both little girls exclaimed as they skipped toward the sliding glass door to the outside at a fast pace.

Sam slowly made her way toward the kitchen; Jacob followed her this time. Pulling open a cabinet, she started putting together the girls snack. Jacob took his glass to the fridge to get some more water, as he did he noticed more pictures and artwork on the fridge door. One of them stood out.

"How far along are you?" Jacob asked.

"Huh?" Sam said as she looked up from her task.

"How far along?" Jacob asked again, pointing at the ultrasound picture hanging on the fridge, showing a peanut.

"Oh, 8 weeks," She answered with a grin, she looked at the picture Jacob was gesturing to. "It was a surprise, but a good one," she continued as she opened the fridge and grabbed two juice boxes from the side door. She then went back to the kitchen island and grabbed the plate of cookies, and headed toward the sliding glass door.

"We can sit outside and talk if you like?" She suggested, looking outside. "It feels pretty good out here."

"I bet your father is so happy, because I know I am," Jacob whispered before following her outside, intending to watch the girls play before he and Grace had to head back to their reality.


End file.
